1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to microwave ovens and, more particularly, to a microwave oven which is provided with an anti-vibration plate to prevent a side plate of a cabinet from vibrating, due to an electromagnetic field which is generated around a high-voltage transformer installed in a machine room.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is well known to those skilled in the art, a microwave oven is an appliance, which heats and/or cooks food placed in a cooking cavity thereof using high-frequency electromagnetic waves generated by an oscillation of a magnetron installed in a machine room. That is, during a cooking process, the magnetron installed in the machine room irradiates high-frequency electromagnetic waves, (i.e., microwaves), into the cooking cavity. The microwaves penetrate the food so as to repeatedly change a molecular arrangement of water laden in the food, thus causing molecules of the water to vibrate and generating frictional heat within the food to cook the food. Such microwave ovens are typically classified into two types, a general type microwave oven and a wall-mounted type microwave oven. The general type microwave oven is installed at a position around a cupboard in a kitchen to cook the food using the microwaves. The wall-mounted type microwave oven is mounted to a wall of the kitchen, and collaterally serves to exhaust gas or smoke produced from a gas oven range which is positioned under the wall-mounted type microwave oven, in addition to cooking the food in the wall-mounted microwave oven.
The present invention may be applied to both the general type microwave oven and the wall-mounted type microwave oven, but the present invention will be described herein with reference to the wall-mounted type microwave oven, as an example.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional wall-mounted type microwave oven. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the conventional wall-mounted type microwave oven includes a cabinet 1 which defines an external appearance of the wall-mounted type microwave oven. The cabinet 1 is partitioned into a cooking cavity 11 and a machine room 12.
An exhaust passage 13 is defined around lower portions and rear portions of the cooking cavity 11 and the machine room 12 to guide exhaust gas or smoke produced from a gas oven range (not shown) placed below the cabinet 1 so that the exhaust gas or the smoke is discharged to an outside. A fan motor 14 and two exhaust fans 15 are provided at an upper portion in a rear portion of the cabinet 1 to suck gas or smoke guided along the exhaust passage 13 and discharge the gas or smoke to the outside. In this case, the exhaust fans 15 are mounted to opposite ends of the fan motor 14.
The cabinet 1 has a front plate 2, a rear plate 3, a bottom plate 4, a top plate 5, and side plates 6 and 7. The front, rear and bottom plates 2, 3, and 4 are made of a thick steel plate, and are assembled with each other to define the cooking cavity 11 and the machine room 12. Further, a thin steel plate is bent at a right angle at opposites sides thereof to form the top and side plates 5, 6, and 7, having a single structure. The top and side plates 5, 6, and 7 cover open top and sides of the front, rear, and bottom plates 2, 3, and 4.
Electrical devices, such as a magnetron 21 and a high-voltage transformer 22, and a cooling fan 16 to cool the electrical devices are installed in the machine room 12. The high-voltage transformer 22 is mounted to a bottom of the machine room 12. The magnetron 21 is provided at an upper portion of the machine room 12.
Thus, when an electric current is supplied to the electrical devices including the magnetron 21 and the high-voltage transformer 22, microwaves are irradiated from the magnetron 21 into the cooking cavity 11 to cook food placed in the cooking cavity 11.
However, the conventional microwave oven has a problem that the top plate 5 and side plates 6 and 7 are made of a thin steel plate to have the single structure and the right side plate 7 covers a side of the machine room 12, so the right side plate 7 may vibrate due to an electromagnetic field which is generated when the electrical devices installed in the machine room 12 are operated to cause a noise.
That is, when the electric current is applied to the magnetron 21 and the high-voltage transformer 22, a strong electromagnetic field is formed around the high-voltage transformer 22 and due to the strong electromagnetic field, the thin right side plate 7 vibrates, thus generating the noise.